1 Kings 8 · Verse 37

1 Kings 8:37

If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
1 Kings 8:37, King James Version

1 Kings 8:37 in other translations

BSBWhen famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,
WEB“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,
ASVIf there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
YLT‘Famine--when it is in the land; pestilence--when it is; blasting, mildew, locust; caterpillar--when it is; when its enemy hath distressed it in the land in its gates, any plague, any sickness, --
DARBYIf there be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blight, mildew, locust, caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their gates; whatever plague, whatever sickness there be:
BBEIf there is no food in the land, or if there is disease, or if the fruits of the earth are damaged through heat or water, locust or worm; if their towns are shut in by their attackers; whatever trouble, whatever disease there may be:
WebsterIf there shall be in the land famine, if there shall be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there shall be caterpillar; if their enemy shall besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there shall be;

What does 1 Kings 8:37 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 37 If there be in the land famine - pestilence - The Fourth case includes several kinds of evils: 1. Famine; a scarcity or total want of bread, necessarily springing from the preceding cause, drought. 2. Pestilence; any general and contagious disease. 3. Blasting; any thing by which the crops are injured, so that the ear is never matured; but instead of wholesome grain, there is a black offensive dust. 4. Mildew; any thing that vitiates or corrodes the texture of the stalk, destroys the flowers and blossoms, or causes the young shaped fruits to fall off their stems. 5. Locust, a well known curse in the East, a species of grasshopper that multiplies by millions, and covers the face of the earth for many miles square, destroying every green thing; leaving neither herb nor grass upon the earth, nor leaf nor bark upon the trees. 6. Caterpillar; the locust in its young or nympha state. The former refers to locusts brought by winds from other countries and settling on the land; the latter, to the young locusts bred in the land. 7. An enemy, having attacked their defenced cities, the keys and barriers of the land. 8. Any other kind of plague; that which affects the surface of the body; blotch, blain, leprosy, ophthalmia, etc. 9. Sickness; whatever impaired the strength, or affected the intestines, disturbing or destroying their natural functions. All such cases were to be brought before the Lord, the persons having a deep sense of the wickedness which induced God thus to afflict, or permit them to be afflicted: for only those who knew the plague of their own hearts, (1Kgs 8:38), the deep-rooted moral corruption of their nature, and the destructive nature and sinfulness of sin, were likely to pray in such a manner as to induce God to hear and forgive.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Kings 8:22-53

In this excellent prayer, Solomon does as we should do in every prayer; he gives glory to God. Fresh experiences of the truth of God's promises call for larger praises. He sues for grace and favour from God. The experiences we have of God's performing his promises, should encourage us to depend upon them, and to plead them with him; and those who expect further mercies, must be thankful for former mercies. God's…

Read the full comment on 1 Kings 8:22-53 →

1 Kings 8:37 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

רָעָ֞בra.'AvfamineH7458
כִּֽי\־ki-ifH3588
יִהְיֶ֣הyih.Yehit will beH1961
בָאָ֗רֶץva.'A.retzin the landH776
דֶּ֣בֶרDe.verpestilenceH1698
כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
יִ֠הְיֶהYih.yehit will beH1961
שִׁדָּפ֨וֹןshi.da.FonblightH7711
יֵרָק֜וֹןye.ra.KonmildewH3420
אַרְבֶּ֤ה'ar.Behlocust[s]H697
חָסִיל֙cha.Sillocust[s]H2625
כִּ֣יkiforH3588
יִהְיֶ֔הyih.Yehit will beH1961
כִּ֧יkithatH3588
יָֽצַר\־ya.tzar-he will lay siegeH6887
ל֛וֹloto it
אֹיְב֖וֹ'o.ye.Voenemy itsH341
בְּאֶ֣רֶץbe.'E.retzin [the] land ofH776
שְׁעָרָ֑יוshe.'a.Ravgates itsH8179
כָּל\־kol-everyH3605
נֶ֖גַעNe.ga'plagueH5061
כָּֽל\־kal-anyH3605
מַחֲלָֽה\׃ma.cha.LahsicknessH4245

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Kings 8:37

  • Deuteronomy 28:21-22

    The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

  • Leviticus 26:16

    I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

  • Deuteronomy 28:38-42

    Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. …

  • 2 Chronicles 20:9

    If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

  • Jeremiah 32:2

    For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house.

  • Jeremiah 39:1-3

    In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up. And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal–sharezer, Samgar–nebo, Sarsechim, Rab–saris, Nergal–sharezer, Rab–mag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.

  • Joel 1:4-7

    That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

  • 2 Chronicles 6:28-31

    If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house: Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:) That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

  • Ezekiel 14:21

    For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

  • Joel 2:25-26

    And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

  • Psalms 105:34-35

    He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.

  • Deuteronomy 28:25

    The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
in the land famine.
Le 26:16,25,26-46; De 28:21,22,25,38-42,52-61; 2Ki 6:25-29
1Ch 21:12; 2Ch 6:28-31; 20:9; Ps 105:34,35; Jer 32:2; 39:1-3
Eze 14:21; Joe 1:4-7; 2:25,26
cities. or, jurisdiction.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Kings 8:36

    Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

  • 1 Kings 8:37

    If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

  • 1 Kings 8:38

    What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

Read all of 1 Kings 8

1 Kings 8:37 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Cuando en la tierra hubiere hambre, ó pestilencia, ó tizoncillo, ó niebla, ó langosta, ó pulgón: si sus enemigos los tuvieren cercados en la tierra de su domicilio; cualquiera plaga ó enfermedad que sea;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
S’il y a famine dans le pays, s’il y a peste, s’il y a brûlure, rouille, sauterelles, locustes, si son ennemi l’assiège dans le pays de ses portes, quelque plaie, quelque maladie qu’il y ait,
German
Elberfelder 1871
Wenn eine Hungersnot im Lande sein wird, wenn Pest sein wird, wenn Kornbrand, Vergilben des Getreides, Heuschrecken oder Grillen sein werden; wenn sein Feind es belagert im Lande seiner Tore, wenn irgend eine Plage, irgend eine Krankheit sein wird:
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Fames si oborta fuerit in terra, aut pestilentia, aut corruptus aër, aut ærugo, aut locusta, vel rubigo, et afflixerit eum inimicus ejus portas obsidens: omnis plaga, universa infirmitas,